Various Artists - American Epic album review

The best Blues you can get this month

Not so much a box set as a paving slab, the five-CD American Epic almost manages the impossible task of gathering together the seminal US releases of the 1920s. The most atmospheric disc compiles 17 field recordings in pin-sharp fidelity, but the most exciting one traces New York’s contribution, exemplified by the supple twang of Big Bill Broonzy’s Long Tall Mama.